Collier school district settles RACIAL & SEXUAL discrimination
lawsuit
By KATHERINE LEWIS
Originally published 07:04 p.m., March 21, 2008 = Updated 02:06 a.m., March 22, 2008
The Collier County School District paid $50,000 to settle discrimination lawsuits brought forward by three custodial employees at Tommie Barfield Elementary School.
Teresita Rodriguez, Orquidia Pino and Adelfo Rives filed racial discrimination lawsuits stemming from racial discrimination they felt at the hands of their former supervisor, John Shea. The three contend the discrimination was not addressed by the school’s principal, Jory Westberry, according to the lawsuit.
All three employees are of Cuban descent.
The district agreed last month to pay Pino and Rives $16,000 each to settle the suit. Rodriguez will be paid $18,000 because she also filed a sexual harassment lawsuit after claiming that her supervisor inappropriately touched her while on the job.
According to the lawsuit, Shea “inappropriately touched (Rodriguez’s) buttocks in an unwelcomed, sexually harassing manner” in August 2004. Corrective actions have not been taken to prevent the conduct, according to the suit.
Shea denied the allegation and a district internal report found no evidence it occurred.
All three custodians, who will keep their jobs and received their settlement checks last week, also claimed Shea reprimanded them for speaking Spanish at work; Shea referred to them as “stupid Cubans”; and that Westberry was informed, but has not taken any corrective measures.
“We applaud Superintendent Dennis Thompson, the (school) board and the district’s legal team for bringing this to a reasoned resolution,” said Sam Gold, the attorney for the custodians. “It languished far too long in the previous administration.”
The settlements do not constitute an admission of liability or unlawful conduct on the part of the district, according to the settlement documents.
Although the plaintiffs allege the incidents of discrimination happened in 2004, Gold said the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had to review the case for the three employees before it moved forward.
A district internal report concluded that he exhibited hostilities toward Hispanics, but it also mentions a former Hispanic head custodian who didn’t agree that was the case.
The Collier County School District investigated the matter in March and April 2006, according to an April 27, 2006 memo from to Allun Hamblett, executive director of human resources.
The investigation concluded that there was no evidence to support allegations that Shea inappropriately touched Rodriguez, according to the memo. Hamblett wrote the investigation concluded Shea’s “leadership style and manner of interacting with staff” did not create a good working environment.
“There is evidence, by Mr. Shea’s own statements and the statements of others, that he is insensitive to Hispanics,” Hamblett’s memo states.
The district recommended that, because conditions at the school had deteriorated, Shea could no longer be effective as the school’s plant operator. It was recommended that he be given a conditional transfer to a nonsupervisory position.
Shea no longer works at the school.
According to the memo, the district also found there was no evidence to support that Westberry covered up allegations or acted inappropriately in her duties as principal.
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